


Neil's first injury and Andrew's first deal

by Kami_cullen



Series: Growing up with you <3 [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew makes his first deal, Broken Bones, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Minor Injuries, POV Andrew Minyard, Protective Andrew Minyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23240827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kami_cullen/pseuds/Kami_cullen
Summary: Andrew is ten and he just wants Exy practice to be over so he can have ice cream with his best friend Neil but what happens when Riko tries to injure his friend?... well Andrew makes his first deal and Neil gets his first Exy injure
Relationships: Betsy Dobson & Andrew Minyard, Betsy Dobson/Officer Higgins, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Growing up with you <3 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1530707
Comments: 20
Kudos: 204





	Neil's first injury and Andrew's first deal

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Again!!! sorry this took so long! life has been CRAZY, I hope everyone is safe and please #STAYHOME if you can, this is a continuation of a series where Andrew is adopted by Betsy and Phil when he is six and Neil by Waymack and Abby when he's 5, you can read it as a stand alone if you want to 
> 
> English is not my first lenguaje so there might be many mistakes! 
> 
> Anyway, Enjoy!, lots of love from Ecuador

Andrew was bored, he was in the middle of Exy practice guarding the goal but his mind was somewhere else. He had turned ten a few months prior so his mom had just allowed him to read “The Hunger Games” trilogy and he was in the middle of the last book, so at the moment he couldn’t care less about Exy he just wanted to go home and read.

It was a Friday and Neil (who was currently having way more fun than Andrew) was going to sleep at his house, because his parents were out of town. His mom had told him that after practice they could have ice cream and Andrew was also looking forward to that. He wanted practice to be over already but Coach Mikaela was making them play against each other, she had gathered everyone on the team and made two small teams to face each other. Neil was on his team, as well as his friend Renee and some other kids that he didn’t care about. Andrew liked Renee because she was a pretty tough girl and because she had been a foster kid like Neil and himself, and even though they both had been officially adopted years back they had still been foster kids at some point.

In the other team (along with more kids Andrew didn’t care about) was Matt Boyd, one of Neil’s best friends, the kid was extremely tall and goofy, Andrew didn’t mind him too much. Who he did mind was Riko and his friend Jean, they always played dirty and they were bullies, just because of that, he wanted to win this game. He had seen Riko making fun of other people more times that he could count, he usually left Neil and Andrew alone but that was just because they were on the same Exy team and because Andrew was known for constantly getting into fights and Neil was a firecracker loud mouthed kid.

They were all part of their little league school team and had made it to finals this year for the first time since Andrew had joined the team two years ago, they had the big game the following week and Neil could _not_ wait, Andrew on the other hand could very well wait but he was also a bit exited, right now though he was mostly bored and hungry.

The game was tied and there were only a couple minutes left, luckily if nobody scored, the match would just end in a tie. On the last seconds Andrew saw Neil flying to the opposite side of the court, he was so very fast, at eight years old he was still a skinny kid but not like when he first started to live with his parents, back then he was malnourished, now he was just light because that was his constitution or something like that and right that second he was using his light weight to run as fast as he could, taking the ball from Riko and scoring in the last second like in the matches they sometimes watched on TV.

When the ball entered the goal everybody on their team started to cheer, Neil turned to look at him with the biggest smile on his face as the rest of their made up team ran to hug him. Andrew snorted, it did feel good to win, specially like that. He abandoned the goal and his racquet so he could go and give hi-fives and hug Neil when he saw Riko holding his racket with a sick frownand walking directly towards Neil.

Andrew knew how sometimes in movies things happened in slow motion, like one moment things were happening at a normal speed and then an action sequence began and everything moved slowly, Andrew had seen that in movies but had never experienced something like that in real live.

Until now.

Now he could see with absolute clarity and precision as Riko swang his racket directly into Neil's shins, tripping him and making him fall forward. Riko literally just swept Neil’s legs out from under him with his racquet. Neil, that was still holding his own racket immediately put his hands in-front of him to stop his fall which made him land with one hand on the floor the other on the handle of his racket, Andrew also saw his chin bounce in the net of the racket and then everything happened real fast.

One second he was watching Neil falling to the ground and the next his fist had connected with Riko’s face and he was stumbling backwards sporting a bloody nose.

In the next second hell broke loose.

Everything happened so fast that Andrew wasn’t sure that time actually passed, out of nowhere he felt a sharp pain in his mouth, Riko had hit him in retaliation and was yelling insults at him and then the whole team was there, screaming and hitting. Somebody lifted him from the ground holding him from behind while he tried to free himself.

“Andrew stop!, calm down!” Matt Boyd said, of course he was the one holding him, he was a giant teddy bear who would try to stop fights instead of instigate them “Stop! It’s Neil! He needs you!” And just like that all the fight left Andrew

He saw Neil sitting on the floor cradling his hand, with a cut in his jaw and on the verge of tears, Andrew forgot all the chaos still happening behind him as he knelt in front of Neil .

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Neil looked up at Andrew with big blue eyes and frowned

“Drew, you are bleeding” he said and carefully touched Andrew’s lip, he showed his finger red with blood

“It’s nothing, you are bleeding too, on your chin. Does your arm hurt?” Andrew asked carefully evaluating Neil’s hunched position, at his words Neil full on pouted

“My wrist hurts” he said pitifully enough to fully worry Andrew. Neil was a tough boy, an adventurer, he climbed on trees and didn’t cry when he fell off them, he didn’t care about scraped knees or Ext bruises which meant right then he must have really been in pain.

“Come on, let’s get you to the nurse…” His words were interrupted by their Coach loudly calling his name.

Well, he was doomed.

About half an hour later, Riko, Neil and Andrew were sitting in the principal’s office waiting for Riko’s father and Andrew’s mom.

The nurse had checked on them and had put Neil’s arm in a sling but didn’t really explained much to them, she had also informed Andrew that Riko had knocked out a tooth but not a permanent one so even though his mouth hurt he was mostly alright. Riko had an icepack on his nose so Andrew assumed he did a bit of damage too and was kinda glad about it.

What he was definitely NOT glad about was the fact that their parents had been called. Andrew had the slight suspicion that he was no longer going get ice cream after practice.

The three of them were awfully quiet, Neil was slumped into him and was grabbing Andrew’s sleeve tightly, he did that when he was nervous but he didn’t want to suck on his finger (because he didn’t do that anymore… in public at least)

“Drew?” Neil said really softly “I don’t want Aunt Betsy to be mad at me”

“She won’t be Neil, you did nothing wrong, Riko tripped you”

“I don’t want her to be mad at you either” Well, that was a different story, this was the third fight that Andrew had gotten into in that school year and his mom was definitely going to be mad at him.

Before he had time to dwell on that reality the office door opened reveling a concerned Betsy and a really angry looking asian men. Andrew took a deep breath that did nothing to ease his nerves, when the adults entered.

Betsy immediately went to check on them, Andrew lowered his gaze.

“Hello boys” she said sounding concerned and serious. Andrew felt himself getting smaller, he didn’t dared to look up but then his mom crouched down to be at his level and gently touched his face “Are you guys okay?” Andrew shrugged and said nothing, he felt like crying but he was _not_ going to cry. Before he could said anything Mrs. Carter, the Principal, called everybody’s attention.

“Good afternoon, thank you all for coming, Mrs. Dobson I understand you are here representing Nathaniel as well since his parents are out of town for the weekend?”

“Yes ma’am, I’m here for Andrew and _Neil_ ” His mom answered politely

“Very well then, the boys were involved in a fight as we already told you, but we want them to explain everything that happened and hopefully we can get to an understanding, as a school we do not tolerate violence as a response for anything and will be taking a course of action as soon as we have clarified this whole situation, so boys, can any of you explain what happened?”

Of course Neil was the first one to talk

“Riko tripped me! he was mad because his team didn’t win. I scored against his team on Exy practice and he tripped me with his racquet!” The Asian man looked really mad, but Andrew wasn’t sure at who. 

“Maybe it was an accident” Principal Carter said carefully

“No!, of course not!” Interrupted Neil “He did it on purpose, have you even met the kid?!” Suddenly Andrew really wanted to laugh, that was the tone always got Neil talks about ‘attitude’

“Is that true?” The man asked, his tone very serious, Riko didn’t say anything. Andrew had never seen Riko so… tamed, it was a bit scary. The Principal redirected her attention to Andrew

“So, did you start a fight because Riko tripped your friend?”

“I didn't start it, I was just defending Neil and then Riko hit me back” Andrew answered showing his sore mouth. Some adults at his school seemed to think that he always started fights or had problems with other kids but he never started anything, he just defended himself and Neil when necessary and to Andrew that was a very different thing.

“This is the third fight you have been involved this year Andrew, we won’t tolerate it a fourth time, we have been very patient with you because you are one of our brightest students and you are part of the Exy team but violence won’t be tolerated anymore. Good grates don’t overcome a problem child” she said severely, Andrew’s lip wobbled but he forced himself not to cry, he knew his parents weren’t going to give him back to foster care but he still got a bit scared every time he was in trouble, he really didn’t want to be a problem for them. he tried really hard to be a good kid, besides what was he supposed to do?, he couldn’t _not_ defend Neil. On his periphery he could see Riko smiling and that made him angrier

“I didn’t start anything” He repeated himself even though he hated doing so. The principal was about to say something but his mom spoke first

“I think we should continue this discussion with out the kids present, it seems like we need to talk about… adult matters” The principal seemed taken aback by the harsh tone so she sent the kids to wait outside

Non of them said a word for what seemed like a really long time. While he was waiting Andrew felt increasingly more anxious, the lights in the hallway were way too bright, he was way too hot and his mouth hurt. Next to him Neil was just waiting in silence for once, he always knew when Andrew needed quiet time. After a while the adults came out, the Asian Man went directly to Riko and yanked his arm really hard to make him stand, Andrew flinched, he remember what it was like to be mistreated by an adult, Neil tensed as well but before any of them said something his mom came out, and knelt right in front of them.

“We will talk about what happened at home” She said severely but she didn’t seemed angry, not like Riko’s dad, never like that “Right now we need to go to the hospital to get you guys checked, the nurse things you need X-rays Neil”

“To the hospital?” Neil asked suddenly scared, he hated hospitals “No, I don’t wanna go. I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt that bad!”

“We just need to make sure you are ok honey, also my cousin Alana, who is a dentist is waiting for Andrew, just to make sure he is okay as well”

“I don’t want to” Neil said again he’s tone scared

“I know you don’t Neil but we need to go, just to check, I’ll be with you the whole time” she motioned for the boys to stand and follow her but Neil remained sited

“Come on Neil, it’s just a check up, X-rays are really cool, it’s like a picture of your bone!” Said Andrew and extended his hand, Neil looked at it for a few seconds and then reluctantly took it. Andrew was scared as well but he didn’t want his friend to notice, he was older than Neil and it was his job to protect him.

<3

When they got to the hospital his mom left Andrew at his aunt’s dentist office while she took Neil to get his X-rays. Andrew liked his Aunt Alana well enough but he wasn’t a fan of dentists in general, so he endured all her poking and prodding but felt immensely relieved when she finally said:

“All done Andrew, let’s get you to your mom” The good thing about the dentist was that your mouth was occupied so small talk was out of the question, Andrew hated small talk.

While they were walking the hospital’s long hallways, his aunt asked

“So how’s everything kid?”… And there it was. He didn’t want to be impolite o whatever but the question was simply pointless so he just shrugged “You are still a man of few words I see. still a child genius?”

“I’m not a child genius I just have eidetic memory, and I’m pretty sure you don’t just loose that characteristic overnight”

“The way you talk sounds pretty genius to me, kid” She said and he snorted and rolled his eyes because his mom wasn’t there to see it.

They made the rest of the walk in silence. Andrew was just starting to relax a little bit when he heard a very distinct cry, loud and desperate. Without thinking he sprinted in direction of the cry, he faintly heard his aunt calling his name but he had only one thing in his mind: Neil.

He entered a room trashing blindly when he saw him: Neil, sitting on a hospital bed shivering and crying so much that Andrew was afraid he might either throw up or pass out (both things had happened before but not in a long time).

“Nooo!, I want my mom!” He was yelling, Andrew noticed that his mom was trying to calm Neil talking to him softly and soothingly. She knew many technics to talk someone out of a panic attack but Neil was a really stubborn kid in every area. His mom took a careful step closer and Neil _screamed_ like someone was trying to kill him “No!, _no!,_ don’t touch me!, I wa-want my - my mommy” he kept crying, It was enough for Andrew, he got a lot closer to Neil than his mom until his friend saw him.

The second Neil saw him he threw himself at Andrew and hid his face on the crook of his neck while he sobbed even harder “Drew, I-I…” He was at a point where he couldn’t even talk and Andrew knew he had little time to do something, he rubbed gentle circles on Neil’s back and made nonsense shooing noises and after a few minutes Neils breathing came a little easier, he was clutching Andrew’s shirt with his good hand

“Breathe with me” Andrew said softly and guided Neil’s breathing a few times, when he was noticeably calmer he asked:

  
“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t - they want to put a cast on my arm”

“It’s broken?!” Andrew asked suddenly worried

“Yeah but- but, I wanted to-to play next week” Neil whispered

Andrew looked up at his mom, his wrist was broken?, in that moment Andrew felt no pain at all, his mouth didn’t bother him, the lights weren’t too bright. He could only think that Neil was really hurt, Neil wouldn’t be able to do what he wanted the most and the thought made him very very angry. Neil whined in his chest and he saw his mom getting closer to them, but he already knew what to do, after aunt Abby, Andrew was the best at calming Neil down so he just hugged him tightly, again.

Just then he realized there where more people in the room; a doctor and a nurse besides his mom.

His mom who had been watching took a step closer

“Thank you for helping Neil calm down, Drew, you did a very good job. Now the doctor has to see him, maybe you can sit next to him while the doctor puts the cast on, would you like that Neil?” She asked touching Neil’s head softly, Neil nodded and reluctantly detached himself from Andrew, he had a giant pout and tears where still falling but he was allowing the doctor to see him and that was a huge improvement.

The doctor was a tall man with a gentle smile who had a funny face-mask with monkeys in it, he didn’t seemed specially scary but Neil hated hospitals.

“Okay Neil, first I’m going to explain to you what I’m about to do, you have a tiny hairline fracture on your wrist so we have to put a cast around it to let it heal properly, this process should not be painful and you can choose a fun color to cover it. You’ll have to wear the cast for only four weeks and after that you’ll need to do a bit of physical therapy and you’ll be all better, ready to play Exy next season” And that was the wrong thing to say.

Neil started to cry again

“But I wanted it to play in the finals next week, don’t put me on a cast, please!, I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt, _please_ ”

“I know you do, honey” Said his mom “But this is necessary, I promise you’ll feel better after”

“But I…” Neil let out a broken whisper and put his head on Andrew’s shoulder, resigned.

The doctor saw the fight leave Neil and started to work. Andrew had both of his arms around Neil so he whisper in his ear

“They gave me watermelon mouthwash, can you smell it?” Andrew said and blew gently in his friend’s direction, he took a moment to answer and when he did, it was a soft whisper meant only for Andrew

“Yeah, I like it, does your mouth hurt” When Neil was sad or panicked you could notice his little lisp and right now it was very noticeable

“Just a little, Aunt Alana said that it might get a little swollen but that’s it. Are you cold?” Neil had been shivering before but that was probably because of the major panic attack he was having

-A little, but I forgot my jacket in the car- He was a lot calmer now, so much that he started to absentmindedly suck on his thumb, Andrew didn’t mention it, Neil really needed to sooth himself right then.

-Oh, that’s alright I can give you mine. Do you know something cool I noticed?, the nurse has purple eyes- Neil reluctantly looked up at the nurse with his head still half buried on Andrew’s shoulder

“They’re cool” he muttered around his finger “They look like a raspberry slushy"

Andrew was going to answer but the doctor said

“All done Neil, now you can pick a color to cover it” The cast covered the majority of Neil’s fore-arm and his hand but his fingers were free, Neil wriggled them

“Light blue”

“Sure, is that your favorite color?” Asked the doctor conversationally 

“No”Light blue and white were the colors of their Exy team

“Oh, well, it's the color of your eyes” Neil hid his face on the crock of Andrew’s neck again. He didn’t like it when people complemented his eyes or hair color “All done Neil, now can I check the cut on your chin? You need a few stitches” Neil didn’t lift his head

“This is the last thing honey” Said his mom softly “Just a few stitches and we can go home” Neil reluctantly looked up

“Can you take your finger out of your mouth so I can have a better look?” The doctor asked. Neil immediately did it, he probably didn’t realized he was sucking on his thumb in the first place “Okay I’m going to put a topic anesthetic first, it’s like sunscreen that’s going to numb your chin a little and then I have to inject a little bit of anesthesia, you are going to feel just a little pinch and then nothing at all and we’ll be all done in just a few minutes” The nurse came and cleaned Neil’s chin carefully but he was clearly uncomfortable, she applied the numbing cream and brought a syringe, when Neil saw it, he flinched, hard

“You are going to put _that_ in my face?!”

“You’ll barely feel it honey, your chin is pretty numbed already” Said the nurse sweetly

“No, Drew no, I don’t…” Neil was going to hide his face on Andrew’s shoulder again but Andrew backed up a little, the nursed had already cleaned the area and he didn’t want her to do it again, he just wanted all of this to be over so they could go. Neil looked at Andrew for a few seconds like he had betrayed him

“Three” Andrew whispered only for Neil

“What?”

“If you behave and let the doctor stitch you up, I will only let three goals pass on the game next week” Now Neil was looking at him with wide eyes

“But, you don’t know how are they going to play, you can predict something like that”

“Yes I can, three goals Neil, I promise, but you have to behave”

“Okay”

“Great, It’s a deal?” Andrew extended his hand and Neil immediately took it

“It’s a deal” The whole exchange have been their little secret so Neil turned to the doctor and nodded, then he took a shaky breath and held Andrew’s hand tighter and let the doctor work.

During the whole ordeal his mom eyed them suspiciously, at the end Neil got six stitches in his chin but he endured them in silence and he kept himself very still and let the doctor do his work.

Once they were in the car Neil was back to smiling and talking too fast

“You have to be the first one to sign it Drew!” He was saying “And Matt can do it on Monday, I want to hit Riko on the head with my new cast” Andrew laughed but he was feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything so he closed his eyes and leaned his head on the window 

“You know what guys” His mom said from the front seat “Today is an ice cream before dinner kind of day, what do you think?”

“Yay!!” Neil said happily “Dessert before dinner!” Andrew didn’t say anything, the offer was a sign that his mom might not be that mad but maybe she was doing it to make Neil feel better 

“Drew?” She asked “What do you think? Do you feel well enough to go?, if you are not feeling well we can just go home” He sighed, relieved, His mom was worried about him, she was taking care of him, she didn’t stop loving him.

“Yeah, I vote for ice cream” He answered.

The ice cream actually made Andrew feel better. When they got home they had an easy to chew dinner, they took baths and went to bed. Neil was exhausted so he fell asleep immediately after talking to his parents on the phone but Andrew was still feeling restless,When he was sure Neil was sound asleep he climbed out of bed and went to his parents room, he’s dad had had a work emergency and wasn’t home yet, Andrew really want him home already.

His parents room was open but he stood just outside unsure of what to do

“Drew?” His mom said “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry” He mumbled

“Oh Andrew, come here” She said kindly, he entered slowly he had been living with his parents fo four years and in that time they had never hit him, they had never send him to bed with out dinner o had scared him purposely. He wasn’t scare of them, he was scared of disappointing them, he wanted to be a good son but he felt like somehow he kept messing things up “Come on honey, come lay next to me”

When he climbed on the bed his mom opened her arms and he basically threw himself at her, other kids didn’t want their parents to hug them or kiss them because ‘it wasn’t cool’ but those kids had never lived in a house where nobody even bothered to learn your name, let alone show you any sings of affection but Andrew had and now that he had loving and affectioned parents he wasn’t going to take that for granted.

He let go after a long while, but just because he felt like crying and he didn’t want to cry

“I love you, Andrew, and nothing is going to make me love you any less, I’m not going to say that what happened today was good but you don’t have to be scared, tomorrow when dad is here we’ll talk about it, the three of us. We’ll listen to you and then we’ll discuss how are we going to handle the situation. The worst is over now, okay?”

“Okay” He said quietly and after a pause; “I love you too Mama”

“Now try to get some sleep, you had a really exhausting day” His mom didn’t say he had to go to his own bed so he curled up next to her and she chuckled and put her hand on his head “You did really good today, with Neil, you helped him calm down and made him feel save, it was impressive, I’m proud of you” Andrew smiled secretly and got closer to his mom.

<3

Phill arrived to his house close to midnight, he had just been promoted to Detective and was still adjusting to the extra responsibility, today had been a rough day, but despite everything that happened at work the worst moment of the day was when his wife had called him to tell him that his son had gotten into a fight and that she had to take him and Neil to the hospital.

Everything was handled now because his wife was fucking amazing, but he still felt guilty for not been there when they needed him, when he got to his room his heart got warm and clenched at the same time, his wife and his son were curled together in bed, Betsy was asleep but in the dim light he could see Andre’s eyes wide open

“Hey buddy” He said softly

“Hi dad”His face looked a little swollen and he was making himself small, Phil hated it.

“What are you doing still up?” Andrew shrugged

“I was waiting for you” Phil didn’t know how his wife did it but he just wasn’t able to stay mad at his son 

“Mom told me a little bit of what happened today, did you get in a fight?”

“Yeah” Andrew hadn’t looked up once since Phil came into the room, he’s was clutching the hem of his shirt really tightly, Phil was about to get closer to get a better look at him but Andrew continued “I’m sorry” his voice so small that it took everything in Phil to just listen “I didn’t mean to get into a fight, _really,_ I was just defending Neil and… and” He stoped and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Phil couldn’t take it anymore

“It’s okay Drew, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, with mom” He ran a hand gently though Andrew’s hair and finally he looked up, he’s mouth was definitely swollen and Phil felt irrationally angry at the kid that did this to his son but Betsy did tell him that the boy got a bloody nose from Andrew’s punch “Does your mouth hurt?”

“A little”

“What did you have for dinner then?”

“Soup and mashed potatoes” Andrew looked extremely tired, he did have a freaking exhausting day, physically and mentally

“Okay Drew, it’s time for bed now” He was going to send Andrew to his room but his lip started to wobble and it is entirely too much, he was a pretty tough kid who _rarely_ cried about anything, so this must really have taken a toll on him, Phil opened his arms and Andrew threw himself into the embrace

“It’s not true, what she said” Andrew whispered into Phil’s neck

“What who said?”

“Mrs. Carter, she said I was a _problem child_ because I’m always starting fights but that is not true” Andrew babbled almost too soft to hear “I do get in a lot of fights but I _never_ start them, I was just protecting Neil”

“I know buddy, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, it’s okay now”

“No, _it’s not_!” Andrew said vehemently “Neil broke his wrist and he won’t be able to play in the finals next week and that’s what he wanted the most! I didn’t want Neil to get hurt” He was silently crying now, hugging Phil real tight, and Phil’s blood boiled. He had a thoughtful, protective and smart kid that loved fiercely and deeply and he was NOT a problem child. Even now he was not even thinking about himself, and even though they tried to teach Andrew that violence was not the answer he would have hit that kid too at ten.

“Were you scared for Neil?” Andrew nodded in his shoulder. He wasn’t even crying for himself, this was about Neil, somehow with Andrew it was always about Neil. His poor boy was clearly overwhelmed with emotions so Phil just held him tight and let him process everything. After a while he spoke softly “Hey buddy, would you like a glass of chocolate milk before bed?” Andrew noddded again but didn’t let go so Phil didn’t either, instead he lifted Andrew and carried him downstairs.

He missed the first five years of his son’s life, so he can totally carry his tiny ten year old if he pleases, he has five years to make up for. All the way downstairs Andrew clinged to him like a koala.

In the kitchen he deposited Andrew on top of the counter and his boy wiped his tears and hanged his head, ashamed, Phil combed his fingers through his hair. He had nothing to be ashamed of.

“It’s okay to feel whatever you are feeling Drew, it’s okay to let it all out if you need to, you know that right?, moms and dads, and exy players, and the president and kids can cry if they need to, there is nothing wrong with that” Andrew nodded and finally looked up offering his Dad a tiny watery smile. To make things a little bit lighter, Phil asked “Did Neil get a cool cast?”

“Yeah! A light-blue one for the team!”

“Did you sign it?” Phil asked putting the milk in the microwave oven

“Yes, with an orange marker, it looked really ugly. Did you solve your work emergency?”

“Yes Drew, thank you for asking” His heart clenched, he loved his son so much.

He gave Drew his milk and served some for himself and they drank it slowly, in peaceful silence until they were interrupted by a tiny red head. Neil entered the kitchen rubbing his eye with his good hand and froze a moment at the sight of Phil. Neil used to be so scared of male adults, now he just seemed taken by surprise.

“Hi, uncle Phil” he said sleepily “I woke up and Drew wasn’t there” he explained.

He looked so innocent and soft in his dinosaur pijamas, that Phil wanted to laugh. In the last four years he’s been able to see the personalities of these kids developed and blossom and while Andrew has opened up and has become more expressive and generally cheerful, he has remained a quiet kid, he loves cars and he adores reading and learning everything, he has a few friends and plays a sport in school but he is definitely an introvert like Phil himself. 

Neil on the other hand has become this crazy force of nature, there is nothing left of the quiet, scared kid that he first met, Neil has an answer for everything, he’s a risk taker and a loud mouthed tactless kid, he makes everyone’s life happier, crazier and unexpected.

“Hello Tornado Neil” Phil said fondly “We were just having warm milk, do you want some?” Neil shaked his head

“I want to go back to bed” the ‘but I won’t if Andrew doesn’t come with me’ didn’t need to be said but was there

“Okay, let’s get you two to bed” Andrew jumped off the counter and followed Neil to his room, they both got into Andrew’s bed and Neil snuggled close to his friend.

There will come a time when they don’t feel comfortable sleeping hugging each other anymore but for now they were still kids who had a rough start in life and found pure love in the each other, for now they were still little enough to have warm milk at night and play with cars and super heroes.

Neil’s eyes were a little swollen, he probably cried a lot too. Betsy told Phil that he not only had a hair line fracture but had to get stitches as well, right now he looked pretty comfy (though he was probably the tiniest bit high on pain meds), and he started sucking on his thumb, a habit he’s been trying to drop for years now, but he had a pretty rough day so Phil didn’t mention it, besides the sutil suckling noise seemed to loll Andrew and soon, the two boys started to get droopy eyes.

Andrew had a night light that he only used when Neil slept over so Phil turned on, with the room softly lit and the two boys on the verge of sleep, Phils kissed them both good night and quietly left the room.

**Author's Note:**

> The next day when Wymack and Abby come back, Wymack totally hifives Andrew when he tells them he hit Riko.
> 
> I have no idea of how to put images in the middle of the text so here's a link to a picture that inspire this whole thing https://www.instagram.com/p/B2XMlCMn2M8/
> 
> I hope you liked it!! tell me your thoughts?? 
> 
> English is not my first lenguaje so please let me know if have to correct something 
> 
> Love yaaaa


End file.
